GlobalLogic to double acquisitions in next 3 years

US-based product development outsourcing firm GlobalLogic expects to double the number of acquisitions in the next three years and is looking to buyout more than one Indian firm in its drive to become a $1-billion company by 2020.Nilesh Christopher | ET Bureau | June 14, 2017, 08:41 IST

US-based product development outsourcing firm GlobalLogic expects to double the number of acquisitions in the next three years and is looking to buyout more than one Indian firm in its drive to become a $1-billion company by 2020.

The product design company recently named Jonathan Rottenberg as SVP corporate affairs and mergers & acquisitions to spearhead key acquisitions in the coming months. Rottenberg previously worked as an assistant treasurer at EXL Service Holding and has over 20 years of M&A and investment banking experience.

“We have identified a few white spaces in the industry... Rott (Rottenberg) has got a big wallet and a laundry list. All he's got to do is go ahead and be aggressive," said Shashank Samant, CEO, GlobalLogic. “We hired Rott as M&A chief and are doubling the number of acquisitions in three years which will take us to $1billion.“ Acquisitions aren't anything new for GlobalLogic. The company has completed close to nine acquisitions in the last 10 years."

“Initial 4-5 acquisitions by GlobalLogic were primarily for geographic expansion,“ Samant said. The company entered markets in US, Russia, and Latin America in this phase. “Then it was more of capability, and now we are going into specific areas either for sub-industry or on the horizontal side." Asked if there would be any acquisitions from India, Samant said that they are evaluating companies that provide market access and complementary skills, and “given the industry dynamics we anticipate more than one transaction in India."

The IT outsourcing firm specialises in digital product engineering taking care of outsourced R&D operations and engineering services of technology titans. The outsourcing firm which bills Microsoft and Google as its top clients helps companies build next gen products and capabilities in IoT, 5G, autonomous cars, etc. The company is looking to build their R&D capabilities in niche areas such as embedded, in dustrial auto motive, machi ne learning (ML), artificial I) and the like. intelligence (AI) and the like.

“We believe there are certain areas of embedded, analytics space, areas like algorithmic and ML where we need more expertise,“ Samant said. “We already are doing machine learning, but with the kind of demand it is not enough."

However, identifying companies is those specific areas will be `quite hard'. Many of the companies are niche and owned at the founder level with few marquee clients. “They come in small packets between $15-20 million to $50 million range of revenue and it's quite hard to find."